More than 12,000 companies have been successfully registered on the government’s online business registration system, also known as the Single Portal, in the nearly 21 months since its launch in mid-2020.

As of March 7, 12,201 companies had successfully registered on the Single Portal, with another 1,174 under review. The average registration time is reportedly eight days. For reference, 12,011 firms had registered as of February 28, with another 1,168 under review.

Meanwhile, 9,048 companies had successfully made reservations to complete the registration process at a later date, with another 338 under review, as indicated by portal data on March 7. For comparison, 8,945 firms had made the same reservations as of February 28, with another 342 under review.

The government launched the integrated e-business registration platform on June 15, 2020, incorporating six ministries and state-run institutions – the finance, interior, commerce and labour ministries, and the General Department of Taxation (GDT) and Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC).

On September 1, the government deployed Phase II of the platform integrating four new agencies – the Non-Bank Financial Services Authority’s Real Estate Business and Pawnshop Regulator (REBPB), and the industry, tourism and telecoms ministries.

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce vice-president Lim Heng praised the Single Portal, which he said cuts costs and resolves bureaucratic inefficiencies such as overlapping obligations and requirements at different ministries and institutions, requiring companies to complete just a one-time business registration form.

As a result, the platform has piqued the interest of domestic and foreign investors, and recorded a healthy stream of applications, he emphasised.

“The platform offers a multitude of advantages, notably giving investors the motivation to grow and expand their businesses,” Heng said.

As an example, all data submitted by companies under the Single Portal will be automatically forwarded to all ministries and state-run institutions incorporated into the system, according to finance ministry spokesman Meas Soksensan.

Hong Vanak, director of International Economics at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, shared Heng’s views that the portal makes life easier for businesspeople, adding that it also significantly improves the government’s management capacity in the area.

Voicing optimism that business registrations would remain on a positive growth path, Vanak told The Post on March 10 that the use of such information technology (IT) systems not only conforms to the government’s Fourth Industrial Revolution initiatives, but promotes transparency, saves time and greatly reduces bureaucratic hurdles.

“The platform will play a role in strengthening and expanding economic growth, enabling the government to manage the number of companies and enterprises present in Cambodia.

“In turn, the data on the number of companies of each business type can also help the government draw up plans that better help develop and provide protections for underdeveloped sectors,” he said.

The Single Portal can be accessed at registrationservices.gov.kh.